Theatrical Review: The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

I have been to hundreds of movie screenings over my
decade-long career as a film critic for Redbox, and while my favorite movies certainly stand out in my memory,
the screenings themselves usually do not. They are typically hosted in one of
three main theaters here in Chicago — either during the day at a smaller screening
room that’s solely for critics, or in the evening at a larger theater where a
few rows are reserved for critics, but all other seats are open to members of
the public who have won advanced passes. These events all blend together as the
weeks and months pass.

However, the February 2014 screening for The Lego Movie is a screening I remember clearly. It was a critics-only showing during the day, and I don’t think I’m overstepping to say that all of us had low expectations. Why? Because — not always, but usually — films released in the early months are… um… not great. And also because the vast majority of kids’ movies are typically… well… also not so great.

So I remember The Lego
Movie screening because of how stunned, almost dazed, we all were walking
out if it. What was this? An EXCELLENT kids’ movie released in February?
Wonders never cease! Miracles can happen! Anything is possible! EVERYTHING IS
AWESOME!

Now here we are again, nearly 5 years to the day after the
original film came out, and I’m happy to say that though my expectations were
significantly higher this time around, they were easily met. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, picks
up right where the first installment left off, after we learned that the
characters we’d been watching for nearly two hours were being controlled in the
real world by an 8-year-old boy named Finn (Jadon Sand). Finn’s younger sister
Bianca (Brooklynn Prince) had just invaded his space with her Duplo creations,
who threatened to destroy Bricksburg and all of its inhabitants.

And destroy it they did. In the new film, we see how the Legos
and the Duplos have battled with each other for five years straight,
obliterating Bricksburg and hardening its citizens into gritty survivors of
what is now known as Apocalypseburg. Except for Emmet (Chris Pratt), who is
still as happy, positive and naïve as ever. Until the day his closest friends —
Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie),
MetalBeard the pirate (Nick Offerman) and astronaut Benny (Charlie Day) — are
kidnapped by General Sweet Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) and taken to the Systar
(get it? Sister!) System. Emmet needs to find a way to rescue them, before a
frightening vision he’s had of the future comes to pass.

Helping Emmet in his quest is Rex Dangervest, also voiced by
Pratt, who is not only a “broodier” and more cynical version of Emmet, but also
a composite of several characters Chris Pratt himself has played, from raptor
wrangler in the Jurassic World series
(the subtitled dialogue of the raptors was one of my favorite parts), to cocky
spaceman in the Guardians of the Galaxy
franchise. Together, Emmet and Rex blast off after General Mayhem, who is
bringing her captives to Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish in a standout
voice performance), the Systar System’s constantly-morphing and musically
talented leader, who assures everyone that she is most certainly not evil.

Like most sequels, The
Lego Movie 2 cannot completely recreate the magic of its predecessor, which
is not surprising. You can only experience pure amazement at seeing Legos come
to life in such a creative way on the big screen once. But the sequel is just
as stuffed with pop-culture jokes (many of which will be waaaay over kids’
heads), meta Batman references, tongue-in-cheek one-liners and memorable songs
as returning writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were able to pack into
the first film. Director Mike Miller made one major change in that he often
switched back and forth between the Lego/Duplo worlds and the real world
throughout the film as a reminder of what was transpiring between Finn and
Bianca as the action progressed, but it worked — for this mother of
often-squabbling siblings, at least. Just when I thought I was going to get
through the movie without tearing up, the final scenes went right for my
heartstrings. Without spoiling anything, I will say that I strongly approve of
this film’s two main messages: being yourself, and working together.

Be sure you stay all the way through the end credits song, which
is about … end credits, and is brilliant. Everything is awesome, once again.

Related

Post navigation

Related Posts

To quote a character from my all-time favorite TV show (LOST), “No one does it alone.” That’s probably why some of the most action-packed movies revolve around teams trying to accomplish a goal. Here are 4 with particularly memorable teams:

The A-Team – I

Share this:

Over the course of my life to date, I have witnessed only two things that can bring large numbers of drastically different people together with positive, uplifting results: movies and music. (OK fine and maybe cat videos.)
That’s why I go to as many concerts as my budget will allow